Baghdad pastor asks Nashville to remember Iraq

Sep. 10, 2013

The Rev. Canon Andrew White / Submitted

Written by

Brian Wilson

The Tennessean

If you go

Canon White will speak in Middle Tennessee at the following times:

Wednesday: Otter Creek Church of Christ at 7 p.m. Thursday: Vanderbilt University Divinity School at 5 p.m. Friday: Belmont University at 10 a.m. Sunday: Christ Church Cathedral at 8:30, 11 a.m. and Woodmont Christian Church at 5:45 p.m.

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The Rev. Canon Andrew White may think highly of Nashville’s faith community, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be a part of it.

The vicar of St. George’s Church in Baghdad thinks Music City is too cool and too quiet for his tastes. He’s used to bombs waking him up in Iraq.

“I’d be bored in a place like this,” he said.

White is in Middle Tennessee through Sunday night to speak to local colleges and churches about the Baghdad congregation he’s led since the Iraq War and the service work they are known for internationally. Despite other crises emerging in other Middle East countries, the British-born pastor said supporting Iraqis of all faiths must remain an international priority.

“The masses have nothing, so much of our efforts are spent trying to provide for the people,” he said.

What has allowed White’s church, believed to be the only Anglican congregation left in the country, to succeed is its commitment to serve and to reconcile with any group in the community.

White said circumstances in Iraq have steadily worsened in recent years since the U.S. withdrew most of its troops from there in 2011. Nevertheless, the members of his church and the people they serve haven’t been phased by an increase in violence.

“Despite all of the opposition and violence, we are the most happy congregation I’ve ever known,” he said. “We don’t give up. We push and have great hope, despite everything being awful.”

When not in Baghdad, White travels around the world to raise awareness and build support for the church. He cited St. George’s Episcopal Church and Christ Church Cathedral as local congregations that have helped his church tremendously.

“We really depend on our brothers and sisters in churches like these to stand with us,” he said.

While the pastor has been in Nashville, that hasn’t kept him from keeping up with news in the Middle East, especially just west of Iraq in Syria.

He called the Russian proposal forcing the Syrian government to forfeit its arsenal of chemical weapons to an international organization a much stronger step than a political American military strike, but said for real change to happen, these governments must not just work through their own militaries, but with the people already trying to improve the situation on the ground.